Every year on July 4th, Americans come together to celebrate Independence Day, but I, for one, take issue with the name of this holiday and the ideal of independence in general. I should probably explain myself. It is true that the 13 colonies which would eventually become the United States declared their independence from Great Britain and then fought a war to free themselves from the colonial yoke. But I… Read More »Interdependence
Note: You can find the full loving-kindness meditation script at the bottom of this post. Of the many different types of meditation, I practice two: breathing meditation and loving-kindness meditation. The purpose of breathing meditation is to develop mindfulness, while the purpose of loving-kindness meditation is to develop compassion, kindness, and altruism. (You may also hear loving-kindness meditation referred to as “metta meditation” or “loving friendliness” meditation.)1 In loving-kindness meditation,… Read More »Loving-Kindness Meditation
There are two types of risk, but most people only ever consider one of them. The conventional type of risk is exposing yourself to “failure”: being rejected, crashing and burning, starting a business that doesn’t work out, writing a book that no one reads, etc. This is the kind of risk that everyone is afraid of, and because they’re afraid of it, they stay in their comfort zone. But few… Read More »The Two Types of Risk
Your brain is like a bunch of clay. You can shape it and mold it through deliberate effort. You can do this because of neuroplasticity – the brain’s ability to rewire in response to learning new ideas and engaging in new activities. Any change in your knowledge, abilities, or behavior produces physical changes in the brain.1 The choices you make determine how the clay is molded. But unlike a bunch… Read More »The Clay Never Dries